Congress notes with grave concern the events following the rescue of approximately 120 people from an overloaded small craft south of the Isle of Wight on 6 September 2026.
Congress is alarmed by reports that requests to land survivors at Southampton and Portsmouth were refused, and that volunteer lifeboat crews operating under HM Coastguard co-ordination were warned that entering port could result in prosecution. The survivors were eventually landed at Eastney.
Congress reaffirms that saving life at sea is a fundamental legal and humanitarian duty. Under international maritime law, assistance must be provided to people in distress regardless of nationality, immigration status or the circumstances in which they are found. Responsibility for co-ordinating rescue and securing a place of safety rests with the state, not individual seafarers, volunteer crews or port operators.
Congress condemns the obstruction of the emergency response, violence against emergency workers, damage to vehicles, and the subsequent abuse, threats and intimidation directed at RNLI volunteers and other emergency workers.
Congress calls on the General Council to:
i. demand an urgent, transparent government investigation into the refusal of port access and any threat of prosecution made to RNLI crews
ii. press government to establish clear, pre-agreed arrangements for receiving survivors and designating places of safety across the UK coastline
iii. demand and enforce unequivocal protection for RNLI volunteers, seafarers and emergency workers carrying out rescue duties
iv. campaign to protect the safety of those rescuing all people in distress at sea.
Mover: Nautilus International
Seconder: GMB